Books published by Kensington Publishing

The New England Fall Food Fest has begun, and for competitive cook Sherry Oliveri, it''s a chance to take home a prize--and take down a killer...Sherry''s hoping her Savory Shrimp Lettuce Cups will impress the judges, and she''s invited her brother, Pep, to serve as her sous-chef. The good news is that she takes first place in her category, the bad news is that it''s easier to win when your toughest competition is dead...After contestant Fitz Frye is found with a fishhook in his neck, Pep''s strange behavior doesn''t help his case when the police consider him top suspect. While Pep sits through a shakedown, Sherry searches near and far for the real culprit--before another deadly course is served...

Known for its mouthwatering traditional breads, the Yeast of Eden bakery has gained fame across Northern California''s coast. Now the shop is bound for Reality TV--but a murder may kill its reputation...People come to the beach town of Santa Sofia as much for the healing properties of Yeast of Eden''s breads as for a vacation getaway. And now a cable food channel has selected the bakery as a featured culinary delight for a new show. Baking apprentice Ivy Culpepper is excited as the crew arrives, ready to capture all the ins and outs of the renowned bread shop. But instead they capture something much harder to stomach: the attempted murdered of the show''s cameraman just outside Yeast of Eden...With no motive and no clues, and the town craving answers, it will be up to Ivy to sift through the evidence to find the truth. But she''ll have to move quickly before someone else is targeted or the wrong person gets the heat--and the business collapses like a deflated soufflé, right before her eyes.

This Halloween, pie shop proprietor Val Harris must patch together clues to solve a murder by pumpkin . . .As the owner of Pie Town, Val''s been tapped to judge the pie making contest at the annual pumpkin festival in the coastal California town of San Nicholas. Things could get sticky though--her boyfriend, cop Gordon Carmichael, is entering the competition with his "special" family pumpkin pie recipe. But Val''s got bigger problems than a conflict of interest when she and her flaky piecrust-maker Charlene discover another contestant crushed under an enormous pumpkin.When grudge-holding Chief Shaw comes up with a half-baked reason to toss Carmichael off the case and onto the suspect list, it''s up to Val and Charlene to find the tricky killer. But as they dodge lethal pumpkin cannons and follow the clues into a figurative and literal maze, the pie pals are in for the scariest Halloween of their lives--and it may be their last...

As Stella Wright''s Nantucket candle store thrives, her knack for solving mysteries burns equally bright--especially when a Halloween haunted house uncovers evidence of a centuries-old murder...When Stella''s friend inherits a creaky, abandoned home in Nantucket, she knows it''s the perfect setting for the town''s annual Halloween fundraiser. A deserted, boarded-up building on the property--once used as a candle-making shop--adds to the creepy ambiance. But as Stella explores the shack''s dilapidated walls, she discovers a terrible secret: the skeleton of a Quaker woman, wrapped in blood-soaked clothing and hidden deep within a stone hearth...While police investigate, Stella wastes no time asking for help from friends with long ties to Nantucket''s intricate history. The key to the murder may lie within a scorching 18th century love triangle that pit two best friends against one another over a dubious man. But before the case is solved, another life will be claimed--leaving Stella to wonder who in Nantucket is friend, and who is foe...

Welcome to Shenandoah Springs, Virginia, the bucolic small town where Brynn MacAlister keeps cows, churns cheeses--and is sharper than the ripest cheddar when it comes to solving mysteries...With a foster cow in her corral and a new calf on the way, Brynn MacAlister has a lot on her plate. Especially since her micro-dairy farm is hosting the first annual cheesemakers contest at this year''s summer fair. A relative newcomer, Brynn''s hoping the contest becomes a tradition, bonding her even more strongly to the community. But when a mysterious tractor accident looks suspiciously like murder, Brynn suspects someone is up tono-gouda...Some folks say the lead suspect was just defending his underage daughter from a suitor more mature than a vintage provolone, but Brynn isn''t buying it. Especially when another dead body turns up and Brynn''s top cheesemaker falls under suspicion. It''s enough to make a girl bluer than her best Stilton. But not enough to stop Brynn from getting to the bottom of things. What she discovers is the small town harbors some pretty unsavory characters. And the closer Brynn gets to the killer, the deeper she gets into danger...

G.A. McKevett returns with the second installment of her new mystery series, a spin off of her popular Savannah Reid series, set thirty years in the past--the 1980s!--in the small Georgia town that Savannah grew up in, with her beloved--and MUCH younger--Granny Reid as the sleuth!The roots of the Moonlight Magnolia Detective Agency reach back to the 1980s in the little town of McGill, Georgia--where Stella Reid and her seven grandkids enjoy some spooky Halloween fun and stumble into murder...It doesn''t take cash, just some good old fashioned creativity, to turn a pillowcase into a ghost costume or a trashcan into a suit of armor. So even if she has to stick to a budget, Stella Reid always makes holidays like Halloween memorable for twelve year old Savannah and the rest of her grandchildren.After joining the other townspeople for trick or treating and the annual parade down Main Street, Granny Reid and the kids head to Judge Patterson''s antebellum mansion, where a corn maze awaits. Most of the youngsters are too terrified to make it all the way to the middle. It''s lucky for them, because when Savannah and Granny get there, it proves to be even scarier than they expected--half buried in the mud at the center of the maze lies a human skull. The grisly discovery uncovers a mystery that stretches back decades--and seems to be related to the long unsolved murder of Granny Reid''s own part Cherokee mother. After all this time, the culprit may be long gone... or still hiding among them. It''ll be up to Granny to dig into this Southern town''s history and a mess of old family secrets...

A festive fall is in full swing in Goosebush, Massachusetts, but when a snoopy reporter is felled by foul play, it''s up to Lilly and her Garden Squad to spook out a killer...Between hosting a haunted house on her lawn, serving on the town''s 400th Anniversary Planning Committee, and prepping for the Fall Festival''s 10k fundraiser, Lilly''s hands are full. She doesn''t have time for prickly newspaper reporter Tyler Crane, who''s been creeping around town, looking for dirt on Goosebush''s most notable families...until he''s found dead on the race route moments before the start.An unfortunate accident? Or did Tyler unearth a secret that someone in Goosebush is willing to kill to keep? By planting nasty rumors and cultivating fear, Tyler sowed a fair share of ill will during his brief time in town. Weeding through the suspects will be thorny, but Lilly and her Garden Squad are determined to root out the autumnal assassin before the Fall Festival flops...

Courageous and vulnerable, April has survived Philadelphia''s tough city streets. But when her sister disappears, April''s search will lead her to the Pennsylvania Amish countryside--where the peaceful setting belies a brand of danger all its own...With a childhood shattered by alcoholism and abandonment, April learned the hard way to trust only herself and her younger sister, Rose. But suddenly, Rose is gone without a word--and April''s purpose in life is to find her. She has only one ally: Joseph Young, a handsome Amish man with whom she''s struck up an unlikely flirtation in the bakery where she works. He''s knowledgeable, steadfast--and when they join forces, April''s life takes a radical turn...In the heart of Amish farm country, April and Joseph grow closer. Yet April fears there''s no future for them. Especially when vicious, too-personal warnings and strange attacks make her wonder just whom Joseph is really trying to protect. And as her unconventional investigation roils a community with much to conceal, April will find some secrets are killer--and some dreams may be too lethal to trust...

In the arms of a centuries-old vampire, a woman awakens to newfound passion—and magical powers of her own. Hungarian vampires are born, not made—and can breed with mortal females. Being one of the oldest of his kind, Quill Falconer has honed his skills at hunting just the right kind of prey, which is why his latest victim confounds him. She shouldn’t remember his drinking her blood. And he shouldn’t still be craving more . . .   Callie Hathaway’s life is as normal as it can be after the death of the beloved grandmother who raised her. Until one night, feeling foggy and fatigued, she realizes that a strangely sensual encounter with a dark, handsome man didn’t occur only in her imagination. As Callie and Quill’s unique connection draws them together, an ancient order of knights seeks Quill’s destruction. Being together puts Callie in mortal danger—until she uncovers a magical family legacy. Side by side they’ll fight for survival, and for each other, as the brotherhood of vampire hunters gather for one final showdown.

With a wildfire burning its way toward Paradise Peak, Tennessee, folks are drawing together to save the small mountain community. Times like these can make a hero out of a man--no matter what dark secrets he carries in his heart...A desire for absolution brought ex-con Travis Alden to Paradise Peak. But when he finds honest work, along with a keen sense of belonging, he shelves his plan to unburden his guilty secret, instead working to rehabilitate a ranch--alongside the very people his transgressions hurt the most. With the chance to create a haven for wildfire refugees, Travis seizes the opportunity to do good, to earn the respect his new boss shows him. Only Travis doesn't count on his feelings for his boss's beautiful niece. Hannah Newsome is a woman with a past as bleak as Travis's--the kind of woman he should protect, not pursue. But once the rugged loner sees her wariness turn to warmth, once he tastes the potent passion between them, all he can think about is having it all right here in Paradise Peak, with Hannah by his side...

In this blazing new series, William W. and J.A. Johnstone tell the tale of a man who became a myth--and a myth that became a legend. This is the epic story of Nathan Stark, Army Scout...They slaughtered his family. Killed his young bride. And ever since that tragic day, Nathan Stark has devoted his life to fighting the hostile tribes who massacred those he loved. As a civilian scout for the Army, he's served with such famous commanders as Custer and Crook. He's battled against such notorious war chiefs as Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull. Among the fiercest natives of the untamed west, Nathan Stark is a living legend--one that must be destroyed...Against his better judgment, Nathan agrees to be teamed up with a rival Crow scout named Moses Red Buffalo. Their mission: to forge a trail deep into Indian territory under the command of a bloodthirsty army colonel. But the mission is not what it seems. If Stark and Red Buffalo want to stay alive, they'll have to work together as a team--if they don't kill each other first...

In the Alyssa Maxwell's sixth delightful A Lady and Lady's Maid Mystery set after World War I, a trip to Staffordshire for Lady Phoebe Renshaw and her lady's maid, Eva Huntford, leads to murder in a famed pottery works...Following the devastation of the Great War, England's noble class takes comfort in honoring tradition. To celebrate their grandparents' wedding anniversary, Lady Phoebe Renshaw and her siblings travel to Staffordshire to commission a china service bearing the Wroxly coat of arms from the venerated Crown Lily Potteries, a favorite of Queen Mary.The two leading designers at the illustrious china manufacturer offer competing patterns. But when one of them is found dead--his body crushed in a grinding pan and his design pattern book missing--his rival is immediately suspected. The police are also suspicious of the dead designer's resentful young son, a schoolmate of Phoebe's fifteen-year-old brother Fox. When Fox gets involved to help his friend, Phoebe begins to investigate the rival artist.At the same time, Eva is enlisted to go undercover at the works so she can gain the confidence of the female employees, who are only allowed to paint, not design, which may have led to a grudge against the victim. Pursuing a killer who has no compunction about using a kiln as a coffin, Phoebe and Eva take their lives into their hands to discover the shattering truth...

Unswerving: Angus Force is determined to hunt down the serial killer he'd once shot dead--or so he thought. But an anonymous source reports that Lassiter is alive. Force hasn't slept since, knowing it's only a matter of time before "the Surgeon" strikes again. And soon, a body is found, bearing Lassiter's same maniacal MO. It's just the beginning of a murderous trail blazing through DC and Virginia, right to Force's backyard...Unstoppable: Nari Zhang is the shrink for the ragtag Deep Ops Unit, though she isn't Force'sshrink--which is a very good thing. Because once they're thrown together on the case, their attraction is explosive and irresistible. They'll just have to fight that much harder to keep the heat between them from flaming out of control. But things are about to become far more challenging, and deadly, than they could have imagined...Unhinged: Once the killer catches a glimpse of Nari, she becomes his new obsession. She is now the focus point--for both Force and Lassiter--in a dangerous dance for survival...

In this poignant new series, Patricia Johns introduces an Amish family striving to reclaim the promise of love, marriage, and community after a shocking change in circumstance. Her sensitive storytelling and realistically flawed, yet endearing characters bring depth and heart to this tender story about faith and second chances, as a young man and woman.The Amish residents of Bountiful, Pennsylvania, are stunned when preacher Abe Yoder is imprisoned for fraud. For Abe's son, Isaiah, the news cuts doubly deep. His daet's misdeeds have cost Isaiah his family's land and their good name. To support his sisters, he takes a job in the Glick family's book-binding shop, though it means working alongside a woman who has every reason to resent him. Yet, his attraction to Bethany Glick's beauty and warmth is undimmed...Isaiah's daet's actions helped drive Bethany's fiancé to the Englischer world, and cost her own father his savings. Their shop is in need of Isaiah's brawn and skill, but if she's to start over after heartbreak, she needs a man she can trust. Not a Yoder. But Isaiah isn't giving up so easily. And when Bethany faces a dilemma, there may be a way for each to find not just redemption, but a joyful new love...

Life is usually quiet during the off-season on Martha's Vineyard. But not for island newbie and bestselling novelist Annie Sutton...Finally settled into her adopted island home, Annie is looking forward to writing her next mystery, making soap for her new business, and starting renovations on the Inn she plans to open by the summer. She's also enjoying spending more time with local police sergeant John Lyons, the man she's only just gotten comfortable calling her boyfriend. She's even starting to relish her relationship with John's teenaged daughter, Lucy. It's probably not the best moment for a visit from the biological mother Annie only recently met. Still, it's high time she got to know the mysterious Donna MacNeish...But Donna's visit isn't merely a social call--she's come to share some devastating news. Seeking solace in an outing with Lucy, Annie and the teen stumble upon skeletal remains on the Inn's property, a finding that calls a halt to all construction while the police investigate. Desperate for answers, Annie starts asking questions of her own. But when secrets about her own past bring shattering revelations, suddenly everything Annie understands about love and loyalty is tested--and she wonders if the ties that bind her to her beloved community will reach a breaking point...

Award-winning author Wesley launches a thrilling new mystery series set in New Jersey, featuring a multicultural cast, and starring a caterer-turned-realtor with the gift of second sight.

Welcome to a specialty shop in the Oregon tourist town of Oceanview, where it's all things honey--from taffy to body scrub. But murder can make things sticky...A BALMY WAY TO GOWith her Let It Bee honey boutique buzzing along nicely, life is as sweet as nectar for Wren Johnson--until she takes a morning walk along the Pacific beach with her Havana Brown cat, Everett, and stumbles upon the body of Agnes Snow, the cranky queen of the local craft fairs, stiff as driftwood. More unfortunate? Clutched in the victim's fist is a label from Wren's homemade beeswax-and-honey lip balm. Which makes Officer Jim Hampton focus his dreamy-blue Paul Newman eyes on Wren as suspect number one. With fabulous feline support from Everett, Wren must comb the town for clues and clear her name before someone else gets stung.

From Spur Award-winning author Charles G. West comes a blistering tale of the American West, where guns are the law, good men are outnumbered--and sudden death is a way of life...Raised among the Blackfoot, John Hawk is a valuable asset to the US Army. As a military scout at Fort Ellis, he is able to cross the line between two worlds--and help keep the peace. But when he disobeys a direct order from his commander, Hawk is immediately dismissed from his post. That was the army''s first mistake. The second was losing track of a small mule train En-Route to Helena. At the request of his former lieutenant, Hawk leaves his cabin on the Boulder River to help find the missing party. The mule train, it appears, was ambushed by a savage gang of outlaws. Most of the travelers were murdered. Only a few survived to tell the tale. And now it''s up to Hawk to stalk the killers across the lawless Montana territory--alone. No backup. No Calvary. No mercy...